The Video Issuehttp://www.adweek.com/taxonomy/term/14701/all
enYouTube Star Michelle Phan Likes Mario Kart and Cartoon Networkhttp://www.adweek.com/news/technology/youtube-star-michelle-phan-likes-mario-kart-and-cartoon-network-157243
Emma Bazilian<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/info-michelle-phan-hed-2014.jpg"> <p>
<img alt="" src="/files/uploads/SPACER-652.gif" style="width: 10px; height: 1px; " /><br />
<u><strong>Specs</strong></u><br />
<strong>Who </strong>Michelle Phan<br />
<strong>Age </strong>27<br />
<strong>Accomplishments</strong> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/MichellePhan" target="_blank">YouTube beauty tutorial star</a> (currently featured in YouTube&rsquo;s national ad campaign); founder of <a href="http://MichellePhan.com" target="_blank">MichellePhan.com</a> and Em Michelle Phan cosmetics<br />
<strong>Base </strong>Los Angeles<br />
<br />
<strong>What&rsquo;s the first information you consume in the morning?</strong><br />
When I wake up, I turn on my phone and immediately look at any missed calls or text messages. Right after that, I look at the weather, especially when I&rsquo;m in New York. The weather there is so bipolar. Then I quickly look through my emails and <a href="https://twitter.com/MichellePhan" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, see what&rsquo;s trending.<br />
<br />
<strong>What are your other go-to social media platforms?</strong><br />
<a href="/node/156107">Flipboard </a>is really fun because it&rsquo;s like a digital magazine that lets you curate your favorite things and follow your favorite people. I do Instagram but not Vine. I love Vine, but I don&rsquo;t have time to browse through it. So when I&rsquo;m on YouTube, I&rsquo;ll look up the &ldquo;best of Vine&rdquo; compilations.<br />
<br />
<strong>Where do you get inspiration for your blog and videos?</strong><br />
I glance through the pages of all the top magazines every month just to see if there are any colors that are trending. I&rsquo;ll also go on <a href="http://instagram.com/michellefawn" target="_blank">Instagram</a> and look at the &ldquo;popular&rdquo; page to see what people are liking, what&rsquo;s cool. I&rsquo;ll check it at different times of the day; for example, if it&rsquo;s really late in L.A., you&rsquo;ll see a lot of posts in Asia. My followers also help me a lot with finding inspiration; they&rsquo;re like my co-pilots.<br />
<br />
<strong>There are also a lot of crazy commenters on YouTube&mdash;how do you deal with them?</strong><br />
I&rsquo;ve been on YouTube for a while, so I&rsquo;m used to the good, the bad and the crazy. It&rsquo;s important to have a strong mental filter. But I also want to make sure that I see the comments that are thought-provoking or that will help me improve my videos.<br />
<br />
<strong>What&rsquo;s your favorite app?</strong><br />
I travel a lot, so Kayak is a great one. Of course, <a href="/node/144443">Waze</a> because, especially in L.A., having shortcuts is important.<br />
<br />
<strong>Any games? </strong><br />
If I can find time to play games, it&rsquo;s console gaming. I don&rsquo;t want to be plugged into my phone all the time. I&rsquo;m waiting for the new Mario Kart to come out, but I&rsquo;ve been playing Donkey Kong and Mario 3D World on the Wii U.<br />
<br />
<strong>What TV shows do you watch?</strong><br />
I love House of Cards and Game of Thrones. Also Adventure Time&mdash;I&rsquo;m a huge cartoon lover. There&rsquo;s this other new cartoon show that I&rsquo;m loving called <a href="/node/154112">Rick and Morty</a>. It&rsquo;s a fun, very nostalgic play on Back to the Future and the relationship between Doc Brown and Marty.<br />
<br />
<strong>What&rsquo;s on your reading list?</strong><br />
I&rsquo;ve been reading a lot about Egyptology. Right now I&rsquo;m reading From Light Into Darkness by Stephen Mehler.<br />
<br />
<strong>What are your favorite fashion or beauty magazines?</strong><br />
I love<a href="http://www.luckymag.com/" target="_blank"> Lucky magazine</a>. As a consumer, I appreciate it because I&rsquo;m very budget-friendly. I also love looking at Japanese and Korean magazines. Their trends are insane.<br />
<br />
<strong>How do you wind down before bed? </strong><br />
I listen to a lot of Tibetan music before I sleep. I&rsquo;ll just type in &ldquo;Tibetan meditation music&rdquo; on YouTube and within 15 minutes, it knocks me out. I sleep like a baby.</p>
TechnologyThe PressFashionLuckyMagazine ContentMichelle PhanEmma BazilianSocialThe Video IssueTwitterVideoYoutubeMagazineFri, 02 May 2014 02:07:01 +0000157243 at http://www.adweek.comThis L.A. Agency Creates Standout Ads for Big-Ticket Projectshttp://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/la-agency-creates-standout-ads-big-ticket-projects-157246
Sam Thielman<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/big-picture-group-01-2014.jpg"> <p>
<img alt="" src="/files/uploads/SPACER-652.gif" style="width: 10px; height: 1px; " /><br />
<u><strong>Specs</strong></u><br />
<strong>Who </strong> Steph Sebbag (l.), president, and Andy Robbins, evp, motion pictures and interactive<br />
<strong>What</strong> Full-service creative agency<br />
<strong>Where </strong>Los Angeles<br />
<br />
When you&rsquo;re <em>thisclose</em> to Hollywood, you tend to think a lot about how to maintain a consistent artistic voice that can be heard above the roar of the crowd. Steph Sebbag, president of entertainment-oriented creative agency <a href="http://www.bpgadvertising.com/" target="_blank"><strong>BPG</strong></a>, elaborated: &ldquo;We&rsquo;re always trying to find the voice of a television show or movie, and then find its place in the market.&rdquo; The Los Angeles-based shop has worked to create standout ads for big-ticket projects from <a href="http://talent.adweek.com/gallery/Vikings-2-Teaser/14874345" target="_blank">History&rsquo;s Vikings</a> to MGM&rsquo;s recent <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INmtQXUXez8" target="_blank">RoboCop movie</a> remake. BPG also has an altruistic side: It recently built a campaign for PETA around shocking images of syringes, knives, chains &hellip; all made out of animal emoji.</p>
Advertising & BrandingMarketingAndy RobbinsBPGDCNF 2014-15HistorySam ThielmanMagazine ContentPetaPortraitRoboCopSteph SebbagThe Video IssueVikingsCreativeAgencyThu, 01 May 2014 01:56:57 +0000157246 at http://www.adweek.comViewing Habits Show Traditional TV Networks Still Reign Supremehttp://www.adweek.com/news/television/viewing-habits-show-traditional-tv-networks-still-reign-supreme-157313
Melissa Hoffmann<p>
Especially among younger viewers, use and awareness of digital streaming companies is growing to rival that of traditional TV networks. However, television currently remains the top medium by which to consume programming. &nbsp;</p>
<div class="news-article-image" style="float: left;">
<img src="/files/imagecache/node-detail/data-streaming-vs-tv-01-2014.jpg" />
<p class="caption">
<span class="meta-credit">Illustration: Carlos Monteiro</span></p>
</div>
TechnologyTelevisionAmazon PrimeCableDataData PointsMelissa HoffmannHulu PlusMagazine ContentMobileNetlfixNetworksNetworksOnlineRedboxstreaming videoThe Video IssueVideovideo servicesWed, 30 Apr 2014 02:53:42 +0000157313 at http://www.adweek.comHouse of Cards’ Beau Willimon Talks About How the Hit Show Came to Behttp://www.adweek.com/news/television/house-cards-beau-willimon-talks-about-how-hit-show-came-be-157270
Michelle Castillo<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/fea-feau-01-2014.jpg"> <p>
Before Beau Willimon created the American version of <a href="/node/154288">House of Cards</a>, Web TV (not including YouTube) was largely made up of network program outtakes&mdash;or worse, discards. But the writer behind the Netflix series as well as the Broadway play <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farragut_North_(play)" target="_blank">Farragut North</a> (later adapted into George Clooney&rsquo;s Ides of March) disrupted that notion. In its first two seasons, HoC gleaned the first Emmy noms for an Internet-first show and took home the first acting Golden Globe for an online property. Adweek spoke to Willimon about how the online cosmos have evolved since his days on the Howard Dean presidential campaign.</p>
<p>
<strong>Adweek: House of Cards really elevated the Web video sphere. Were you always behind the idea of the show going to the Internet?</strong><br />
Willimon: No. When we first started out, we just set out to make a great TV show &hellip; and find the appropriate place to license [it]. At that time, we had in mind the usual suspects: HBO, Showtime, AMC. When we sat down with Netflix, we weren&rsquo;t really quite sure what they had in mind. It&rsquo;s sort of funny to think about several years later. Internally we debated whether it made sense to release a show exclusively on the Internet, to do so with a company that was just getting into the TV business. At the end of the day, a few things sort of played into the decision to want to team up with Netflix, not the least of which was two seasons guaranteed, which was huge, and creative control, which was huge, but also the opportunity to do something new and different. We suspected that if this all worked out, it would possibly be a paradigmatic shift in television, and that excited us. I think the rebels in us were very excited about teaming up with some rebels. In a lot of ways, we were in the right place at the right time at the right project. We didn&rsquo;t start out on Day One that this would end up on the Internet, but we&rsquo;re thrilled that it did.<br />
<br />
<strong>That must have been an interesting conversation to tell the stars of the show: &ldquo;Hey, so remember that TV show we were doing? Yeah, it&rsquo;s going on Netflix.&rdquo;</strong><br />
Dana [Brunetti, executive producer] has always been forward-thinking in terms of technology and where the industry is going. I know that he spoke directly to Kevin [Spacey, the show&rsquo;s star], and said, &ldquo;I think there is an opportunity there to do something exciting and new.&rdquo; Kevin has always been progressive and forward-thinking and a risk-taker himself in art and producing. [Co-star] Robin [Wright], she trusted <a href="/node/139646">David [Fincher</a>, executive producer]. She trusted the strength of the story, and realized no matter where we were there was an opportunity to dig her teeth into a character she was really excited about.<br />
<br />
<strong>You&rsquo;ve always used real world events to inspire your work. Has the prevalence of the Web changed over the course of your career?</strong><br />
The [Howard] Dean [2004 presidential] campaign revolutionized the way campaigns engaged with the Internet. Now, it&rsquo;s a matter of course. At the time it was an extraordinary thing that [campaign manager] Joe Trippi pulled off where he created an online grassroots movement by making supporters part of the conversation. If you go back to 2004, we did something on the Dean campaign that no one had done before. We created a wireless bubble that could travel wherever the campaign was, which allowed in part the journalists to file directly from wherever they were on the move. Also, we had our own bloggers who would travel and in real time say what was happening. The idea of someone from the campaign being able to say this is what&rsquo;s happening the moment it&rsquo;s happening was novel and extraordinary. Now, it&rsquo;s a fact of life that we get information as it&rsquo;s happening. The wire services used to be the ones that got the closest to that. Now it&rsquo;s everyday citizens. It can be generated from someone in a campaign or someone standing in a junior high gym in Oelwein, Iowa, punching out a tweet.<br />
<br />
<strong>You could also argue that Dean&rsquo;s campaign was crushed by a viral video before the concept really came out.</strong><br />
You could only imagine what would have happened if YouTube did exist, and then there would have been all the parodies and someone would have set it to music and made it a techno thing or what have you, and it may have reached many, many more millions of people. &hellip; It wasn&rsquo;t viral in the way we think about it in terms of the Internet.<br />
<br />
<strong>How does writing for a Web series differ from writing for network TV?</strong><br />
It doesn&rsquo;t differ at all. You can call it a Web series, you can call it a TV show, you can call it a 13-hour movie. I don&rsquo;t really think about it in any of those terms. It&rsquo;s distributed via a streaming service on the Internet, but it is a serialized narrative. It has to be able to work whether it was distributed on the Internet or not because the fact of the matter is, not everyone binges it. You have to be able to make this story work whether it&rsquo;s watched in 13 hours or over 13 weeks or more. What Netflix did, which was brilliant, was say, &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to give you, the viewer, the choice upfront of how you are going to experience this show. We leave that to you.&rdquo;<br />
<br />
<strong>How do you prefer people watch it?</strong><br />
I watch TV the way a lot of people watch TV. Some things I binge. Some things I don&rsquo;t. A lot of it has to do not with the show but what my life is like at the moment. My preference is that people watch it, however they watch it.<br />
<br />
<strong>You talked at the <a href="http://www.thetakeaway.org/story/big-data-and-tv-conversation-david-simon-and-beau-willimon/" target="_blank">Tribeca Film Festival </a>about how Netflix hasn&rsquo;t given you metrics on your show. Is that a good thing?</strong><br />
I prefer it. My only job is to tell the best story possible. If Netflix is happy with the number of people watching it, that&rsquo;s all I need to know. You don&rsquo;t want to ever have that sort of data influence the writing because you run the risk of pandering, and pandering is the antithesis of creativity.<br />
<br />
<strong>What&rsquo;s the last thing you watched on Netflix?</strong><br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hu2oziH7His" target="_blank">Rachel Getting Married</a>. I was rewatching it. I&rsquo;m a huge fan of Jonathan Demme, and that&rsquo;s a really great film. Mostly what I watch on Netflix is documentaries. I think it&rsquo;s one of the greatest repositories for documentaries on the planet. I spent most of my waking hours in scripted land, so when I want to watch something I usually want to watch something that&rsquo;s unscripted. The next thing after that is The Story of Film, Mark Cousins&rsquo; great, 15-hour documentary. Then, Stephen Hawking&rsquo;s Grand Design, Season 2, The Meaning of Life <em>(laughs).</em></p>
TechnologyTelevisionBeau Willimonbinge viewingCreativityDCNF 2014-15Michelle CastilloMagazine ContentMobileNetflixOnlinestreaming serviceTabletThe Video IssueVideoTue, 29 Apr 2014 09:59:34 +0000157270 at http://www.adweek.comDigital Startups Are Teaching the Big Guys Some Lessonshttp://www.adweek.com/news/technology/digital-startups-are-teaching-big-guys-some-lessons-157286
Michelle Castillo<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/fea-vocativ-01-2014.jpg"> <p>
Scott Cohen spent his career working for media conglomerates, including a stint as executive editor for the digital arm of the New York Daily News. But after hearing about <a href="http://www.vocativ.com/" target="_blank">Vocativ</a>&rsquo;s ability to use analytical methods to hunt for little-seen stories lurking in the Internet&rsquo;s long tail, Cohen was willing to chance a new career at an Internet-native startup. &ldquo;What appealed to me was not only the ability to build something from scratch with really smart people but to be obviously on the cutting edge of digital,&rdquo; explains Vocativ&rsquo;s CEO.</p>
<p>
He&rsquo;s not the only old-media character lured by the siren call of the digital world. Many traditional TV outlets are striking partnerships with young digital upstarts. In late February, Vocativ announced a multimillion-dollar, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/24/ny-vocativ-msnbc-show-idUSnPnNYtXhfs+168+PRN20140224" target="_blank">multiyear partnership with MSNBC</a>. Select videos produced by the Web organization appear on Ronan Farrow Daily, with an option to expand its content across NBCU News Group&rsquo;s properties. &ldquo;They are buying access to the ideas flowing out of this place,&rdquo; adds Vocativ chief business officer Steve Alperin.</p>
<p>
NBCU also <a href="/node/154936">inked deals with digital video company NowThis News </a>(NTN) and tech media repository Re/code. And CBS This Morning and BuzzFeed have teamed up.</p>
<p>
What&rsquo;s going on? Established media companies may claim they&rsquo;ve made inroads with younger generations, but they can&rsquo;t deny the majority of their audiences skew older. Staying relevant means learning how to speak to millennials in a digital language. A study by Verizon shows that one-third of people born between 1981 and 2000 watch the majority of their video online. Overall, eMarketer discovered that adults 18 and up will spend 47 percent of their time on media this year perusing it on digital screens. Advertisers are reacting: For the first time, total digital ad revenue topped television revenue in 2013.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;The line has blurred between what&rsquo;s the first screen and what&rsquo;s the second screen,&rdquo; says Altimeter analyst Rebecca Lieb.</p>
<p>
<strong>All Shapes and Sizes</strong><br />
Some traditional news groups are finding the quickest way to satiate demand for online video and content is to work with digital-first outlets. Media can&rsquo;t survive only on the time-honored style of rigid journalism when metrics now include viral sharability and snappy items, argues Bill Grueskin, a professor at Columbia University&rsquo;s Graduate School of Journalism. &ldquo;Demographically significant audiences are migrating to this other content,&rdquo; he notes.</p>
<p>
For example, <a href="http://weather.com" target="_blank">Weather.com</a> produces about 15 videos a day with its digital team internally and clips another 15 videos from the TV network. But it also gets two to four videos a day from digital video company <a href="http://Newsy.com" target="_blank">Newsy</a>. &ldquo;Our audience is more than 100 million people,&rdquo; says Neil Katz, vp of digital content for The Weather Channel. &ldquo;As a site, we need even more production than we are doing. Newsy was a great, fast, reliable solution to that.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
CNN, meanwhile, believes it makes more sense to develop its own digital content. Even though that could take years, the veteran news operation is willing to give it a try through 15-second daily Twitter videos and original Web series. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t need to outsource what&rsquo;s in our wheelhouse,&rdquo; says Andrew Morse, CNN svp, who oversees digital editorial. &ldquo;We need to build up the skills and resources, not take on others. We need to build up what should be our core competencies.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Still, buying content can be cheaper than hiring a staff and purchasing equipment. &ldquo;Why does Polo or Ralph Lauren manufacture clothes in Vietnam or Bangladesh rather than Akron, Ohio?&rdquo; asks Grueskin, the former managing editor of WSJ.com. &ldquo;They can get other companies to make content at a lower price.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
NPR saw an opportunity to expand its digital footprint when it asked daily digital magazine Ozy to produce a segment. Despite no financial remuneration, Ozy CEO Carlos Watson agreed. &ldquo;Established media brands obviously have a big audience and a kind of credibility,&rdquo; he says.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;It is as important for news outlets to hold onto their viewers and be with them wherever they are and whatever channels they are in as it is for digital startups to ride on the coattails of bigger, established players to get visibility traction in markets,&rdquo; adds Lieb.</p>
<p>
Sometimes the relationship between old and new is just about positioning. BuzzFeed excels in Web content but doesn&rsquo;t have a television presence or the chops to produce broadcast quality videos to grow its news brand, admits its president Jon Steinberg. So, the site allowed CBS This Morning&mdash;whose viewers are an average age of 59.8&mdash;to co-sponsor <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/buzzfeed-brews-talks-to-hbo-ceo-richard-plepler/" target="_blank">BuzzFeed Brews in January</a>. (Given that one of BuzzFeed&rsquo;s largest advertising categories is television tune-in ads, there&rsquo;s some sense to joining forces with a broadcast net.)</p>
<p>
&ldquo;I want to expose the brand to the 100 million monthly 18-34-year-olds that go to BuzzFeed that wouldn&rsquo;t know there was morning television,&rdquo; says CBS This Morning executive producer Chris Licht.</p>
<!--pagebreak-->
<p>
<strong>What&rsquo;s the Payoff?</strong><br />
So what are these partnerships getting from each other? Metrics are not easy to amass. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/VocativVideo" target="_blank">Vocativ&rsquo;s YouTube</a> views have skyrocketed 888 percent since the partnership announcement and visits to its site have gone up 31 percent&mdash;but it can&rsquo;t all be attributed to MSNBC.</p>
<p>
The three co-sponsored BuzzFeed Brews measured about 1.5 million views on YouTube and about 1 million views on its homepage. It also got press coverage from 150 outlets and pickup across 12 shows, bringing those impressions to about 17.5 million.</p>
<p>
Perhaps digital startups&rsquo; most salient gift is their willingness to try groundbreaking ideas. Many old-school organizations shy away from dabbling with their formulas, lest they alienate their core following. It&rsquo;s easier to sever the cord with a collaborator than try to repair a deeper rift within one&rsquo;s brand. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a great way for traditional media companies to experiment before necessarily rolling that out with their brands,&rdquo; says Elisabeth Sami, svp, strategy and business development, NBCU News Group.</p>
<p>
In NTN&rsquo;s sunlight-drenched loft office in New York&rsquo;s SoHo, producer Sarah Frank discusses topics with NBCNews.com supervising producer Win Rosenfeld. They weigh whether including negative facts in a positive update on the anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings will hurt the video. The piece has been hashtagged <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23bostonstronger" target="_blank">#BostonStronger</a>. &ldquo;The news came out yesterday that Russia had details about the suspects. It seems really hard to ignore that,&rdquo; Frank points out. Rosenfeld agrees.</p>
<p>
Rosenfeld is one of a handful of NBCU employees who have been embedded at NTN&rsquo;s office since NBCU invested a minority stake (said to be less than 10 percent) in the<a href="/node/149629"> Lerer Ventures</a> brand in January. Their mission was to learn why the company was so successful on social media and digital video&mdash;and to bring those techniques back to the mothership.</p>
<p>
Working with NTN is also helping NBCU News figure out how to do online native formats, among other things. There&rsquo;s precedent there: Sami says the company&rsquo;s agreement with user-generated content service Stringwire gave it insight on how to identify eyewitnesses.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s very hard in a context with a traditional structure to be innovative. The main company can do their experimental product in a separate unit, but it&rsquo;s much more likely to be those guys who create something in their garage,&rdquo; says Grueskin.</p>
<p>
<strong>Professional Distance</strong><br />
The risk for startups is that if it works too closely with the media veteran, it could get swallowed up. Before News Corp acquired social news outlet Storyful in late 2013, the two companies had been partners. Lieb warns that acquisition can be a death knell for many online startups&mdash;she points to CNN buying Zite and then flipping it to Flipboard less than three years later. &ldquo;It got eaten up, digested and let go,&rdquo; she notes.</p>
<p>
Seeking to avoid a similar fate, Vocativ CEO Cohen says he has no plans to sell the proprietary information that helps it identify hidden stories if it wants to stay relevant.</p>
<p>
NTN president Sean Mills says he doesn&rsquo;t have that fear. &ldquo;If we&rsquo;re doing what we&rsquo;re doing really well, and we continue to evolve, I think you just have to have the confidence that you are going to keep innovating,&rdquo; Mills believes. Since their agreement, NTN and NBCU News Group have co-produced 73 videos, nine of which eventually made it to air&mdash;the rest have lived on NBCU News Group&rsquo;s digital and social platforms.</p>
<p>
NTN is &ldquo;riding social networks and Twitter [to] see what&rsquo;s percolating at that moment,&rdquo; says Bill Smee, NBC News director of original video production. &ldquo;We are looking to them to turn pieces that feed off that in a way we don&rsquo;t do directly here.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
For example, during one morning news meeting, NTN staff members and two NBCU News Group employees toss ideas around the room, ready to scribble down notes with color dry-erase markers on a gleaming, white glass tabletop. There&rsquo;s an amazing clip of a Brazilian woman complaining about the high crime rate&mdash;who is then mugged on camera. A comparison of Rwanda and the Central African Republic to show &ldquo;spoiler alert: we did not learn from history.&rdquo; Someone pitches a video featuring a turtle with a prosthetic fin &ldquo;because of a jerk with a jet ski.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;Today may want that,&rdquo; Rosenfeld says.</p>
<p>
In the end, NTN published a two-minute video&mdash;One Year Later: #BostonStronger&mdash;on the anniversary of the bombings, which was tweeted out by NBC News. A 15-second version aired on MSNBC. Neither clip included the Russian intel.</p>
<p>
Past choices aside, content may get more serious due to a change in NTN&rsquo;s leadership and a new agreement with MSNBC. The news net has begun to broadcast <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2014/04/14/msnbc-nowthis-news-15-seconds-to-truth/" target="_blank">15 Seconds to Truth</a>, a daily video from NTN that explores one youth-focused topic that incorporates hard news. &ldquo;In many ways, cat videos and GIFs have been overinflated for this millennial set,&rdquo; says NBCU News Group vp, innovation and strategic integration Ryan Osborn, who has worked with NTN. &ldquo;I think some of the videos that have resonated the most have been hard news videos from around the world.&rdquo;</p>
TechnologyTelevisionThe PressBlogsCableCBS This MorningMichelle CastilloMagazine ContentmsnbcNBCUNewsyNowThis NewsNPROnlineRe/codeThe Video IssueVideoMagazineTue, 29 Apr 2014 09:57:44 +0000157286 at http://www.adweek.comMaker Studios’ New Chief Content Officer Discusses Tackling 23 Digital Video Verticalshttp://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/maker-studios-new-chief-content-officer-discusses-tackling-23-digital-video-verticals-157250
Michelle Castillo<p>
<img alt="" src="/files/uploads/SPACER-652.gif" style="width: 10px; height: 1px; " /><br />
&nbsp;</p>
<div class="news-article-image" style="float: right;margin: 10px 0px 10px 15px;">
<img src="/files/imagecache/node-detail/erin-mcpherson-01-2014.jpg" /></div>
<p>
&nbsp;<u><strong>Specs</strong></u><br />
<strong>Who </strong>Erin McPherson<br />
<strong>New gig</strong> Chief content officer, <a href="/node/156503">Maker Studios</a><br />
<strong>Old gig</strong> Vp, head of video, Yahoo<br />
<strong>Age </strong>45<br />
<br />
<strong>So what does the chief content officer at Maker do?</strong><br />
<a href="/node/153771">I oversee our studio</a>s, so the content we produce in-house, but also our programming strategy vis-&agrave;-vis partners, our network partners and our network talent, as well as outside third-party relationships. I work a lot on our brands and with the advertising community on strategic initiatives and branded programming.<br />
<br />
<strong>How have your past careers prepared you for Maker?</strong><br />
Sometimes I don&rsquo;t like to admit it, but yes, I am a lawyer! In all seriousness, it&rsquo;s a great background for working in digital media because we are kind of operating without a clear road map. We are creating <a href="/node/153392">new deal structures</a> and new ways of partnering every single day. At Yahoo, I was able to learn a tremendous amount at one of the biggest distributors on the Internet. It was an amazing background for teaching me almost everything, soup to nuts on how a global Web distributor works.<br />
<br />
<strong>What trends are you noticing within the shows in development?</strong><br />
We&rsquo;re seeing content that is inspiring, uplifting and <a href="/node/155002">comedic</a> &mdash;but I&rsquo;d overall describe it as positive and optimistic &mdash;really trending with the millennial audience. They&rsquo;re into celebrating life, creativity and expression as opposed to mean-spiritedness.<br />
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<strong>It was announced you would split up content into 23 different vertical brands. How are you organizing that?</strong><br />
The real differentiator between what we do at Maker and traditional media is we&rsquo;ve sourced these verticals out of existing audience demand. We&rsquo;ve gone into our network of over 55,000 creators and looked at where audience is gathering. We&rsquo;re able to actually curate the best of and most relevant content around those existing passion points. What is exciting is we&rsquo;re able to take that and develop original programming and content with that talent and bring in talent from Hollywood. Think of us as having literally 23 cable networks that scale infinitely.<br />
<br />
<strong>What advice do you have for content creators struggling with monetization? </strong><br />
Something we do here at Maker when we partner with content creators is combine art and science to ensure that they are best able to find an audience on the YouTube platform. We also will be<a href="/node/155758"> partnering off YouTube</a>. Also, make sure that when you are developing a channel you have a clear message and intention so you are able to reach your audience in a consistent way. There is a lot of best-practice thinking around when you upload your content and how you upload your content that a partner like Maker can be very helpful with, as well as advising you with what kinds of formats to produce. Off of YouTube, you are a business. You are a brand. Think about your distribution of your content holistically. How are you best leveraging the digital environment and ecosystem to make sure you are reaching your audience?<br />
<br />
<strong>Do you actually like getting caught in the rain, as <a href="https://twitter.com/erin_mcpherson" target="_blank">your Twitter </a>profile claims? </strong><br />
I think that really revealed more about my nostalgic love of cheesy &rsquo;80s songs. If it&rsquo;s warm out, I don&rsquo;t mind it at all. There&rsquo;s nothing like a good summer rainstorm.<br />
<br />
<strong>Is there a notable difference between East Coast and West Coast video makers? </strong><br />
(Laughs) I&rsquo;m not seeing that rivalry yet, but that could make for an interesting digital series. We&rsquo;re partnered with Snoop, so maybe I should get him involved somehow.</p>
<p>
<em>Photo: Karl J Kaul/Wonderful Machine</em></p>
Advertising & BrandingDCNF 2014-15first moverMagazine Contentmaker studiosOnlineMichelle CastilloVideovideoWeb VideoYahooYoutubeMon, 28 Apr 2014 00:28:17 +0000157250 at http://www.adweek.com5 Great Shows You Can’t See on Linear TVhttp://www.adweek.com/news/technology/5-great-shows-you-can-t-see-linear-tv-157273
Sam Thielman<p>
If you&#39;re promoting or buying programming during this year&#39;s <a href="http://www.adweek.com/newfronts" target="_blank">Digital Content NewFronts</a>, one question you&#39;ll inevitably hear from clients is: &quot;Yes, it&#39;s good&mdash;but is it as good as television?&quot; Every service, ad-supported or not, is trying to establish a brand with content its users can&#39;t get anywhere else, and some are definitely better than others. Here, five very different shows that make good on the oft-broken promise of top-tier, entertaining video that&#39;s not found on linear television.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke5AKVtvkdc" target="_blank"><strong>Black Mirror</strong></a><br />
DirecTV<br />
What&rsquo;s dark as pitch and British all over? Why, it&rsquo;s Black Mirror, Charlie Brooker&rsquo;s bleak, satirical anthology series about contemporary technology and all the ways it separates us from each other under the guise of drawing us together. The horrifying premiere episode, The National Anthem, is a small masterpiece but has taken a while to get stateside, possibly because the whole series is a mere six episodes (two seasons of three) and possibly because it plays like a hard-R Outer Limits. Now it arrives here courtesy of DirecTV, which seems to have realized it can&rsquo;t just provide the video content everybody else has anymore&mdash;rather, it has to have something special just for its own subscribers.<span style="font-size: 12px;">&nbsp;</span></p>
<div class="news-article-image" style="float: left;">
<img src="/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/fea-programming-hed-2014.jpg" /></div>
<p>
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_U6Z4xFyUQ" target="_blank"><strong>Foyle&#39;s War</strong></a><br />
Acorn<br />
One of most undeservedly obscure streaming services out there is <a href="http://www.Acorn.TV " target="_blank">Acorn</a>, a subscription-based Web platform featuring every great British miniseries you know (and quite a few that haven&rsquo;t yet made it across the pond) in its library. Among its offerings: Foyle&rsquo;s War, a 90-minute mystery series about a middle-aged detective vet who isn&rsquo;t allowed to serve in World War II. Instead, he&rsquo;s charged with solving all the murders, arsons and robberies that go on in his quaint little English town asit crumbles around his ears.&nbsp;</p>
<div class="news-article-image" style="float: left;">
<img src="/files/imagecache/node-detail/fea-programming-foyle-hed-2014.jpg" /></div>
<p>
<strong>I F***ing Love Science</strong><br />
TestTube<br />
Discovery Communications decided not too long ago that it would make its own Web platforms loosely connected to its linear networks but with content all their own. TestTube, digital sister of cable network Science, has some great stuff available by way of <a href="http://testtube.com/iflscience/" target="_blank">I F***ing Love Science</a>, a weekly science news show hosted by Elise Andrew that plays a little like a foulmouthed version of the Harper&rsquo;s Index. It&rsquo;s a little lo-fi for a series about the latest and greatest in science news, but the content is fascinating.&nbsp;</p>
<div class="news-article-image" style="float: left;">
<img src="/files/imagecache/node-detail/fea-programming-iflscience-hed-2014.jpg" /></div>
<p>
<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/JashNetwork" target="_blank"><strong>Jash</strong></a><br />
YouTube<br />
Digital comedy network JASH is basically Adult Swim&mdash;but on YouTube, and with more swearing. Probably the best offerings on the mini-network come from the great Sarah Silverman (whose material includes a fun music video for her song &ldquo;Diva&rdquo;), but there&rsquo;s also content from Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, Reggie Watts, and Michael Cera. YouTube&rsquo;s Original Channel Initiative (which debuted amid much sound and fury in 2012) didn&rsquo;t generate much viewer interest, but JASH is exactly the kind of destination that attracts attention in a market packed with content: relatively high-budget video created by professional comedians who have established TV chops.&nbsp;</p>
<div class="news-article-image" style="float: left;">
<img src="/files/imagecache/node-detail/fea-programming-jashsilverman-hed-2014.jpg" /></div>
<p>
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pilot-HD/dp/B00I3MNF6S" target="_blank"><strong>Transparent</strong></a><br />
Amazon<br />
Minus the truly regrettable pun in the title, the pilot for Amazon&rsquo;s new show Transparent (about a parent &hellip; well, watch the show) doesn&rsquo;t strike a single false note. Jill Soloway, formerly showrunner of Showtime&rsquo;s United States of Tara and other high-profile series, wrote and directed the first episode of hopefully many to come about a family of messed-up Angelenos and their dad, played by the remarkable Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development), who is dealing with a crisis of his own. It&rsquo;s tender, it&rsquo;s funny, and it&rsquo;s perfectly pitched.<span style="font-size: 12px;">&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">&nbsp;</span></p>
<div class="news-article-image" style="float: left;">
<img src="/files/imagecache/node-detail/fea-programming-transparent-hed-2014-.jpg" /></div>
TechnologyAmazonBritish TVDCNF 2014-15DirectvDiscovery CommunicationsSam ThielmanMagazine ContentonlineThe Video IssueTransparentvideoYoutubeMon, 28 Apr 2014 00:27:47 +0000157273 at http://www.adweek.comHulu CEO Mike Hopkins Is Helping Digital Video Get the Respect It Wantshttp://www.adweek.com/news/television/hulu-ceo-mike-hopkins-helping-digital-video-get-respect-it-wants-157284
Sam Thielman<p>
At the moment, Mike Hopkins has the two hardest jobs in online video. The first is as CEO of Hulu (its third in a year and a half), where he&rsquo;s responsible for a growing over-the-top video business that competes with juggernauts like Netflix and upstarts like Amazon Prime. And his other job is, well, as CEO of Hulu, where he looks out for the interests of owners Fox, Disney and silent partner NBCUniversal, three linear TV giants with huge broadcast networks and dozens of cable channels between them.<span style="font-size: 12px;">&nbsp;</span></p>
<div class="news-article-image" style="float: left;margin: 10px 0px 10px 0px;">
<img class="fancyzoom" data-fancybox-src="/files/imagecache/w1200/fea-hulu-01-2014.jpg" src="/files/imagecache/node-detail/fea-hulu-01-2014.jpg" />
<p class="caption">
<span class="meta-credit">Photo: Rainer Hosch; Illustrations: Bentobox</span></p>
</div>
<p>
It helps that Hopkins has a background negotiating some of the toughest deals in the business. He was president of distribution for Fox Networks, negotiating compromises in the increasingly bitter world of affiliate fees between the Fox channels and MSOs like Dish and Comcast.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;The distribution world is pretty rough-and-tumble in terms of getting those deals done,&rdquo; says Hopkins, who has had to slide into home more than once. In October 2010, he signed one of those <a href="http://variety.com/2010/tv/news/fox-dish-network-reach-carriage-deal-1118026621/" target="_blank">last-minute distribution deals</a> that have come to characterize the industry, averting a blackout of Fox&rsquo;s owned-and-operated broadcast stations for some 4 million <a href="/node/149727">Dish Network</a> subscribers just as the satellite service was set to go dark. The previous week, he had stared down Comcast during a blackout in the New York area.</p>
<p>
It wasn&rsquo;t fun.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s gotten worse and worse,&rdquo; as Hopkins puts it. &ldquo;The last three or four years it&rsquo;s been really serious. The numbers are huge and the margin compression that the distributors have is very real.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
The last thing <a href="http://Hulu.com" target="_blank">Hulu</a> wants to do is contribute to that compression. So when Hopkins, formerly a member of the Hulu board for Fox, was given the task of managing the entire joint venture&mdash;which is constantly in danger of competing with itself&mdash;he had the necessary experience of having represented his company&rsquo;s interests in a tense environment.</p>
<p>
And there&rsquo;s one important reason to keep Hulu afloat from its owners&rsquo; perspective: Revenue is on a serious upswing. Last year the company crossed the $1 billion threshold, as Hulu says it has attracted 6 million subscribers to its Hulu Plus service, now an integral part of its long-term strategy, a strategy Hopkins has had a direct hand in shaping.</p>
<p>
Last year, Hopkins was on the Hulu board when its owners decided to reverse the internal economics of its advertising. It was a call that settled some longstanding grudges between Hulu and the ad sales reps at its owners, who had never been that happy with Hulu&rsquo;s buy-your-own-avails approach to its owners: Hulu would no longer own all the ad inventory on its owners&rsquo; content and sell part of it back to them. Instead, NBCU, Disney and Fox now directly sell about 90 percent of the inventory on shows they stream on Hulu and sell the other 10 percent to the service.</p>
<p>
Though it may sound like a raw deal, Hulu has something no other digital video outfit offers: content from three of the Big Four broadcast networks the day after they air it, as well as fresh content from other networks, including The CW. That content and Hulu&rsquo;s slate of <a href="/node/156229">original programming</a>&mdash;including <a href="/node/151769">The Awesomes</a>, an animated series created by Seth Meyers, and The Wrong Mans, a British action-comedy&mdash;help to drive all-important subscriptions.</p>
<p>
The question, of course, is whether a service that provides TV content without a cable subscription can ever be good for programmers who rely on the dual-revenue stream of cable fees and advertising. Hopkins says it is, and that <a href="/node/157143">cord cutting is a serious misnomer.</a></p>
<p>
&ldquo;Nobody can stream Hulu or any of our competitors unless they have a broadband connection,&rdquo; and frequently, broadband providers also sell cable services, he notes. &ldquo;We have to work very closely with all of those players, and we&rsquo;re actively talking to [the multichannel video programming distributor, or MVPD] side, working on them to sell Hulu Plus as part of their offering.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
That is an attractive proposition, potentially. It is costly and time-consuming to develop a user interface and a set of content agreements for TV Everywhere, and Hopkins has experience dealing with the specific needs of cable and satellite companies.</p>
<p>
Consumers may not love cable operators, but there&rsquo;s no denying their power. &ldquo;They have more people buying their product per capita in the U.S. than anywhere else in the world at the highest prices in the world,&rdquo; Hopkins says. &ldquo;We want to work very closely with them. And the majority of our customers are pay TV customers as well. We&rsquo;re a complementary product for them.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
That last item is a slightly harder sell. Hulu, after all, is one of two or three services that can be cobbled together to form an ad hoc cable subscription that costs a fraction of the price Time Warner or Cablevision demands, and that&rsquo;s exactly what makes its season-to-date content so valuable. &ldquo;There are people who are doing that,&rdquo; Hopkins concedes. &ldquo;But that&rsquo;s not our main objective. We&rsquo;re not trying to get people to cut the cord.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Hulu&rsquo;s strategy for its content partners is simple: Use us to drive live viewership. &ldquo;They have far more girth in terms of programming than we do because they have programming from so many other sources, as well as acquisitions and cable sources,&rdquo; says Mark Pedowitz, president of The CW. Hulu, he says, gets fans-to-be current, and since his network skews young and favors on-demand content, Hulu is a good complement.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m still a broadcaster,&rdquo; says. &ldquo;If broadcast isn&rsquo;t the place [they&rsquo;re watching], we hope to have the viewer watch our shows in a way that will bring them back to the same-day telecast.&rdquo; And it&rsquo;s not just sub fees. Anything that increases viewership gives Pedowitz and his ad-sales team more GRPs to sell, and TV GRPs are worth quite a bit more than the digital clicks and views on The CW&rsquo;s website.</p>
<!--pagebreak-->
<p>
Make no mistake: The digital video world wants a piece of that sweet TV money. That is, after all, the whole point of the <a href="http://www.adweek.com/newfronts" target="_blank">Digital Content NewFronts</a>, which kick off in New York this week. As the cable and broadcast networks hawk their wares at a discount against future success, digital companies are demanding higher rates for that elusive premium video. It&rsquo;s not the easiest pitch.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;Efficient is not a word I&rsquo;d put in front of any premium digital video,&rdquo; says Dave Campanelli, svp, director of national broadcast at Horizon Media. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a huge amount of online video, but true premium online video is fairly scarce. And they can charge a fairly high CPM for it because it sells out. But you can&rsquo;t really compare it to television.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Hulu offers opportunities not found in a programmatic auction. At last year&rsquo;s DCNF, it announced a lineup of programs that would only get the green light if they had a sponsor seeking deep integration. It got several takers. The game show <a href="http://thecomicscomic.com/2013/12/04/jay-mohr-hosts-money-where-your-mouth-is-a-15-minute-game-show-on-hulu/" target="_blank">Money Where Your Mouth Is</a>, hosted by Jay Mohr, landed a sponsorship from Campbell&rsquo;s, while Subway signed on for a series about part-time restaurant workers called <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2363438/" target="_blank">4 to 9ers</a> and Chipotle sponsored a half-hour comedy about the horrors of inorganic food called <a href="/node/155469">Farmed and Dangerous</a>.</p>
<p>
Peter Naylor, Hulu&rsquo;s newly minted head of ad sales, is enthusiastic about the strategy. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s going to continue,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;We live in the era of paid, owned and earned media, and marketers increasingly want to figure out owned and earned&mdash;they know paid.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Hopkins says the project will continue, but he&rsquo;s wary. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got to be careful that you&rsquo;re not just doing it as an infotainment show, that it gets over that quality bar,&rdquo; he says.</p>
<p>
The CEO thinks the time has come to emphasize Hulu&rsquo;s virtues as a walled garden <a href="/node/157252">&agrave; la HBO</a> and Netflix. &ldquo;What we spend a lot of time talking about is that we&rsquo;re not in 100 million homes,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;We have 5, 6 million subscribers or so. Our bar is not just to get people to watch as though they&rsquo;re finding out what channel it is, but to get people to subscribe.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Of course, the surest way to get people to subscribe is to have good product nobody else has. Hulu&rsquo;s record is scattershot&mdash;some of its series, including The Awesomes, have made a splash with viewers, while others, like BBC America co-production The Wrong Mans, have hit more with critics. But Hulu doesn&rsquo;t yet have a big, bragging-rights show that gets on Emmy ballots , and the market is viciously competitive. &ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t done a House of Cards-type show yet,&rdquo; Hopkins admits, &ldquo;but we will. We will be pretty aggressive in making high-profile shows that can cut through.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
That is becoming a more urgent concern not just for Hulu but everyone in the original content space. There is a <em>lot</em> to cut through, and good scripts are at a high premium. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not just the AMCs and FXs on top of the old guys,&rdquo; says Campanelli. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s WGN, which has Salem and got big numbers, BBC America, which premiered Orphan Black to big numbers&mdash;it&rsquo;s everybody. Everybody&rsquo;s doing their version of original programming. You need the loss leader that gets people in the door.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Hopkins agrees: &ldquo;Maybe you don&rsquo;t necessarily have to make it 8 to 10 million [viewers] an episode, but you do have to put the resources behind it to help it succeed.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
One resources is Craig Erwich, late of Warner Horizon TV, where he developed The Voice and 24, among others. He&rsquo;s Hulu&rsquo;s head of content (as of April), and his mandate is to find the next big hit.</p>
<p>
Which is not to say there haven&rsquo;t been successes. <a href="http://www.hulu.com/the-awesomes" target="_blank">The Awesomes </a>is headed into its second season, and its characters have become unofficial mascots for the streaming service. &ldquo;They increased our budget considerably for Season 2&mdash;so that&rsquo;s got to be good, right?&rdquo; says Jack Sullivan, CEO of Broadway Video, which produces the series along with IFC&rsquo;s Portlandia and NBC&rsquo;s Saturday Night Live. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been able to hire more writers.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Then there&rsquo;s the all-important process of making sure everyone knows you&rsquo;ve got something big and cool.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;There was a lot of marketing around House of Cards,&rdquo; says Shelby Saville, digital investment lead at Spark. &ldquo;They marketed it like it was a broadcast show or an HBO show. Frequently, companies will only market within their own platform.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Accordingly, Hulu is filling the airwaves with ads for new comedy Deadbeat, including spots on Adult Swim, Comedy Central and ESPN and events at South by Southwest and comedy clubs, where co-star Brandon T. Jackson performs sets sponsored by the show. (The Awesomes is getting a similarly enthusiastic promotional push.)</p>
<p>
The question that remains is whether that content can scale as Hulu moves more of its emphasis toward its paywall. There are perks to subscribing to Hulu Plus&mdash;a huge suite of ad-free Criterion Collection movies and tons of broadcast content that won&rsquo;t come to Netflix for years. That means the ad model relies not on viewership in the jillions but on what Naylor calls &ldquo;a lean-back environment&rdquo; around that long-form programming where the default state is marathoning your favorite show in the evening or watching anime on autoplay while you&rsquo;re at home with the flu.</p>
<p>
That&rsquo;s what brings the television networks to Hulu. True, every broadcast net has its own website where it controls the ad inventory and sells it as an added value on top of linear television buys. But Hulu is that unique destination where a viewer might tune in for an old episode of New Girl, then switch over to Arrow since it&rsquo;s positioned nearby in the player.</p>
<p>
Hopkins has understood that strategy since his days selling FX, of course: build audience on acquired content, spend liberally on originals, build more audience, cut back on acquisitions. But like most business models, the more it&rsquo;s used, the faster it has to work. Originals, as Campanelli points out, are vital.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;It gives clients a reason to buy Hulu&mdash;they have libraries of shows and movies, and that&rsquo;s all fine,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;But I can buy TV Land if I want to buy reruns.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
With Hulu&rsquo;s originals, Hopkins is reworking a fragile enterprise. And as everyone knows, when you&rsquo;re building a house of cards, you can&rsquo;t afford to slip up.</p>
TelevisionAmazon PrimeDCNF 2014-15DISH NetworkDisneyFoxSam ThielmanJay MohrMagazine ContentNBCUNetflixOnline videoSubwayThe Video IssueMon, 28 Apr 2014 00:25:47 +0000157284 at http://www.adweek.comVice Continues to Grow as It Heads Into Its First NewFrontshttp://www.adweek.com/news/technology/vice-continues-grow-it-heads-its-first-newfronts-157303
Michelle Castillo<p>
Since its humble beginnings as a Montreal-based print publication on news and culture, <a href="/node/148111">Vice</a> has mushroomed to 129 million views per month across its platforms, which include online channels, TV shows, its tablet and mobile offerings, and the original magazine (not to mention Vice Music, Film and Books).</p>
<p>
Vice&rsquo;s digital mission for next year, which will be unveiled at its first NewFronts presentation on May 2, is all about expansion, especially for recently launched site <a href="https://news.vice.com/" target="_blank">Vice News</a> and food vertical <a href="http://www.adweek.com/node/157303/edit" target="_blank">Munchies</a>. Chief creative officer Eddy Moretti asserts that no publisher has kept up with how prevalent food has become in youth culture. Vice is putting itself in prime position with a slate of cuisine-themed programs, including <a href="http://&lt;iframe width=&quot;652&quot; height=&quot;367&quot; src=&quot;//www.youtube.com/embed/VMUQIF29yPc&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; allowfullscreen&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;" target="_blank">F-ck, That&rsquo;s Delicious</a> hosted by rapper Action Bronson.</p>
<br />
<p>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="367" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/VMUQIF29yPc" width="652"></iframe></p>
<br />
<p>
&ldquo;Ten years ago, the coolest kids would be in bands. Now you see the cool kids &hellip; they&rsquo;re saying &lsquo;F-ck it, you know what&rsquo;s cool? A wood-burning pizzeria with farm-to-table f-cking tomatillos,&rsquo;&rdquo; Moretti said.&ldquo;This is 2014. The standard for language, nudity and what&rsquo;s acceptable for a young audience has completely changed,&rdquo; he said.</p>
<p>
Kerry Tracy, CEO of media agency Working Media Group, pointed out that any number of fashion, video game and extreme sports brands would be clamoring to get their products next to Vice material.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;Even with an edgy brand, you take that risk of being associated with content that is continually pushing the envelope. That said, some brands are looking for that exposure and association,&rdquo; he said.</p>
<p>
It hasn&rsquo;t stopped the likes of AT&amp;T, Intel or Budweiser from signing on.</p>
<p>
Vice is open for new advertisers as it continues the uphill battle that all digital publishers face with distribution and monetization. Vice News launched with minimal ad support and like many outlets will not put ads on breaking news, Creighton pointed out. However, it is looking for marketers to sponsor franchises, including the to-be-announced show about the environment, Toxic.</p>
TechnologyThe PressAt&tBella KnoxBudweiserDCNF 2014-15Michelle CastilloMagazine ContentNewsOnlineShane SmithThe Video IssueviceVideoWorking Media GroupNewspaperMagazineMon, 28 Apr 2014 00:20:12 +0000157303 at http://www.adweek.comOnline Video Ads Have Higher Impact Than TV Adshttp://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/online-video-ads-have-higher-impact-tv-ads-148982
Lucia Moses<p>
TV may still dominate the advertising market, but the audience for online video is soaring, with 58 percent of the U.S. population streaming, up from 38 percent five years ago. Digital video presents a big opportunity for marketers, given that online viewers are receptive to ads (particularly when they&rsquo;re seen during documentary, sci-fi and talk show content) and that viewing is growing among hard-to-reach audiences like adults 18-34 and light TV watchers, according to an <a href="http://www.iab.net/media/file/Digital-Video-and-TV-Advertising-Viewing-Budget-Share-Shift-and-Effectiveness-FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">IAB study</a> conducted by Nielsen.<br />
<img alt="" src="/files/data-online-video-01b-2013.jpg" style="width: 652px; height: 3523px;" /></p>
<p>
<em>Infographic: Carlos Monteiro</em></p>
Advertising & BrandingTechnologyTelevisionAppsCableData PointsLucia MosesDigitaldigital videoMenMobileNetworksOnlineonlineSportsThe Video IssueTvVideovideoviewsWebWed, 01 May 2013 10:39:42 +0000148982 at http://www.adweek.comMan Happily Eats Insects for Snapple Video Serieshttp://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/man-happily-eats-insects-snapple-video-series-148988
Christopher Heine<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/tt-andrew-zimmern-hed-2013.jpg"> <p>
Andrew Zimmern, star of <a href="http://www.travelchannel.com/tv-shows/bizarre-foods/articles/bizarre-foods" target="_blank">Travel Channel&rsquo;s Bizarre Foods America</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/andrewzimmern/statuses/322011848218144768" target="_blank">devoured a plate of insects</a> for a Snapple multimedia series that debuts May 1.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a bigger fan of crickets than caterpillars,&rdquo; he told Adweek. &ldquo;Deep-fried caterpillars taste like corn chips.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Snapple clearly wants to get folks&rsquo; attention, as evidenced by a big helping of unusual online spots in an eight-month-long video campaign dubbed &ldquo;Re-enfactment,&rdquo; which plays on the factoids seen underneath Snapple bottle caps since 2002. For instance, Zimmern feasting on bugs points to the fact that the number of times a cricket chirps in 15 seconds plus 37 roughly equals the temperature.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;We absolutely think the [Zimmern] video will go viral,&rdquo; said Dave Fleming, brand marketing director at Dr Pepper Snapple Group, &ldquo;though we think all of the campaign&rsquo;s personalities bring something to the table.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Indeed, <a href="http://www.snapple.com/" target="_blank">Snapple</a>&rsquo;s larger initiative involves videos from other quirky celebs. It also entails social media posts with animated gifs, memes and Twitter Vines, as digital paid ads propel the content. Steve Baer, an exec at <a href="/node/137044">Code and Theory</a>, which created Snapple&rsquo;s campaign, added, &ldquo;To bring these stories to life, you need the right people to tell them.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Enter the colorful Zimmern: &ldquo;I jumped at the chance to work with Snapple because&mdash;while I don&rsquo;t expect people to start eating insects tomorrow&mdash;we can expand the idea of what food can be in America.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Well, some people may still just want to watch.</p>
Advertising & BrandingAndrew ZimmernDCNF13gifsMagazine ContentMemesChristopher HeineSnappleThe Video IssueTravel Channel’s Bizarre Foods AmericaTwitterVineMon, 29 Apr 2013 03:47:57 +0000148988 at http://www.adweek.comComedy Central Brings Live Stand-Up to Your Phonehttp://www.adweek.com/news/television/comedy-central-brings-live-stand-your-phone-148986
Sam Thielman<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/tt-comedy-central-hed-2013.jpg"> <p>
This June, stand-up comedy is coming to your cellphone. And your iPad. And your connected TV. And your computer. It&rsquo;s all part of Comedy Central&rsquo;s CC: Stand-Up app, a sort of video encyclopedia of comedians that features a regularly updated livestream of new content and a suggestion feature designed to recommend the next installment in a comedy binge.</p>
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It&rsquo;s also ad-supported, which dovetails nicely with the Viacom cable network&rsquo;s big upfront push. And it represents the next step in the ongoing battle to engage the young men who often sidestep TV in favor of video games.</p>
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&ldquo;Millennials have been harder to engage because there are so many platforms to reach them,&rdquo; explained network president Michele Ganeless. Now, with a huge catalog of bits from the likes of Louis C.K., Nick Kroll and Kristen Schaal, Comedy Central is trying to recreate with a slick new interface the same kind of experience consumers get on YouTube, much like what SNL is doing with Yahoo.</p>
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Comedy Central has several advantages. The clips on <a href="http://www.comedycentral.com/stand-up" target="_blank">CC: Stand-Up </a>(which is rolling out on iOS, Xbox Live and the company&rsquo;s website, with Android support to come) are all professionally produced and edited, as opposed to cellphone camera footage captured at the local Chuckle Hut, and are curated by the network&rsquo;s programmers. Advertisers looking to buy Louis can do so; advertisers interested in the new stuff can buy the new stuff.</p>
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Nielsen ratings have not been Comedy Central&rsquo;s strongest suit over the last couple of years. Horizon Media research Brad Adgate says the network&rsquo;s total deliveries are down two years running, but he&rsquo;s not sure that matters. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re effective in targeting young males,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If you&rsquo;re that adept at reaching that group, winning the ratings race is not as important because they have that high concentration of their core viewers.&rdquo; Adgate also suspects those viewers are on other screens, too.</p>
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Comedy Central&rsquo;s new programming this year reflects its symbiotic relationship not just with stand-ups but with Web video in general. Veteran comic <a href="http://danieltosh.com/" target="_blank">Daniel Tosh</a> not only has bragging rights to the most popular show on the network&mdash;the most recent new episode drew 2.26 million viewers, more than tripling Comedy Central&rsquo;s prime-time average for the week&mdash;but Tosh.0 also happens to be a show built around online video. Moreover, the stars of Comedy&rsquo;s biggest scripted show in recent years, Workaholics, got the network&rsquo;s attention with a Web series. Comic <a href="http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/inside-amy-schumer" target="_blank">Amy Schumer&rsquo;</a>s new show (April 30) is an outgrowth of her CC Studios-produced Web series, and there are plans to launch a linear TV show based on Funny or Die&rsquo;s Drunk History.</p>
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Ad &ldquo;volume is going to be up,&rdquo; predicts MTV Networks&rsquo; head of ad sales, Jeff Lucas, who added that cable will benefit from a weakened broadcast marketplace. &ldquo;You get better volume on cable, and you get less waste.&rdquo;</p>
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Adgate said that the new video tool is the next logical step for a network that is aggressive about putting its high-profile shows into ad-supported online players as quickly as possible. &ldquo;This extends the brand into a place where the expectations are different.&rdquo;</p>
Television2013-14 UpfrontComedy CentralDaniel ToshKristen SchaalLouis C.K.Sam ThielmanMobileNick KrollSnlstand upThe Video IssueXboxMon, 29 Apr 2013 03:47:01 +0000148986 at http://www.adweek.comThis Is Why Advertisers Need to Get Serious About Videohttp://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/why-advertisers-need-get-serious-about-video-148979
Randall Rothenberg<p>
<img alt="" src="/files/voice-jump-in-01-2013.jpg" style="width: 300px; height: 478px; margin: 10px; float: right;" />We are at the brink of a watershed moment in digital video. The Digital Content NewFronts has become an integral part of advertisers&rsquo; annual budget planning. Fueled by the high demand for premium, original content, this second annual marketplace, taking place this week (April 29-May 3), is widely expected to attract $1 billion of investment.</p>
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This level of investment inevitably will propel the entire digital video ad industry. Advertisers now have the foresight and financial incentive to produce original digital video advertising and make digital video a central focus of creativity, breakthrough interactivity and brand storytelling.</p>
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Already, industry pioneers are taking this route. Some of the most cutting-edge video executions I&rsquo;ve seen have the functionality of apps and content depth of full Web pages. I&rsquo;ve seen digital video ads with links to multiple video games that consumers can play without leaving the ad unit. I&rsquo;ve seen videos that, upon user interaction, expand beyond the box to take over the screen for an immersive and memorable experience. A lot of this functionality is present in the <a href="http://www.iab.net/digitalvideorisingstars" target="_blank">IAB Digital Video Rising Stars ad units</a>.</p>
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Interactivity aside, there&rsquo;s room to think beyond the constraints of the traditional TV spot. In 2012, the most viral ad wasn&rsquo;t 30 seconds long. It didn&rsquo;t feature a cat, celebrities or a household name brand. It was a 30-minute video from <a href="http://nvisiblechildren.com/" target="_blank">Invisible Children</a>, a nongovernmental organization, to rally opposition to Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony. Its current tally on YouTube of more than 97 million views makes its audience comparable to that of the Super Bowl.</p>
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Consumers are eager for more dedicated and eye-opening digital video advertising content. It&rsquo;s already become a vibrant element of the stories that inform us, as demonstrated by the interactive feature &ldquo;<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2012/snow-fall/#/?part=tunnel-creek" target="_blank">Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek</a>&rdquo; from The New York Times. Also, original digital video content has become a regular extension of television programming, especially of programming targeted to a younger audience. The video extras for Heart of Dixie on the CW are a great example.</p>
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Digital video has all the attributes of television&mdash;sight, sound and motion, and high-quality, original content&mdash;with the great benefit of interactivity, targetability and global audience.</p>
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Marketers are beginning to recognize this. In 2012, advertisers spent $2.3 billion on digital video advertising, an increase of 29 percent over 2011, according to the<a href="http://www.iab.net/insights_research/industry_data_and_landscape/adrevenuereport" target="_blank"> IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report</a>. But all too often, the ads themselves are an afterthought&mdash;repurposed television commercials, 15- to 30-second spots with very limited interactive features.</p>
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While it&rsquo;s understandable that marketers want to dip in their toes before jumping, it&rsquo;s time for the high dive. Too many advertisers are missing out on the valuable advantages of this medium, and too many consumers are ready for these new advertising experiences that aren&rsquo;t presently available to them. Indeed, the marketplace is primed to produce interactive, engaging and powerful original digital video advertising.</p>
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Solutions are also being devised and established to help speed this evolution. For example, with widespread adoption of the IAB Video Suite, we&rsquo;re closer than ever to simplified and efficient production across devices and video players. While a few hurdles must be cleared for the viewable impression to apply to digital video, we are well on our way, through the industrywide Making Measurement Make Sense initiative, to a digital GRP that will allow seamless comparison to TV metrics without losing measurability of consumer interactions.</p>
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The &ldquo;commercial&rdquo; as we think of it is evolving beyond its wonderful beginnings. Who will create the digital video equivalent of TV ad icons like Alka-Seltzer&rsquo;s Speedy or Coca-Cola&rsquo;s Hilltop? Which advertiser or advertisers will change consumer culture through digital video?</p>
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We&rsquo;re at the precipice of a new era of advertising where sight, sound, motion and interactivity are united into one robust, surprising, even multilayered brand communication, far beyond the capabilities of a traditional television commercial. But it&rsquo;s up to marketers, agencies and publishers to take that leap and jump in.<br />
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<em>Illustration: Matthew Hollister</em></p>
Advertising & BrandingDCNF13Digital Content NewFrontsdigital videoISBMagazine ContentRandall Rothenbergoriginal digital videoRandall RothenbergThe Video IssueThe VoiceMon, 29 Apr 2013 03:46:25 +0000148979 at http://www.adweek.comMeet Some of YouTube's Core Talent http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/meet-some-youtubes-core-talent-148999
Mike Shields<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/fea-youtube-brian-robbins-hed-2013.jpg"> <p>
YouTube is nurturing the next generation of media &#39;stars&#39;&mdash; a collection of talent with huge followings producing content unlike anything else in the traditional media world. And the company is actively trying to foster more talent. Some of these folks are making a living on YouTube. Others have already cut their teeth in TV, and are looking to conquer the Web. And some are struggling to get discovered, while still doing something else to pay the bills. Here are a few YouTubers Adweek recently spent time with.<br />
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<strong><a href="http://www.adweek.com/news-gallery/technology/meet-some-youtubes-core-talent-148998#brian-robbins-founder-awesomeness-tv-1" target="_blank"><em>Meet YouTubes Core Talent here</em></a></strong></p>
TechnologyTelevisionAppsDCNF13Magazine ContentOnlineMike ShieldsTabletThe Video IssueVideoWebYoutubeMon, 29 Apr 2013 03:45:22 +0000148999 at http://www.adweek.comTwitter and Facebook Are Poised to Challenge YouTubehttp://www.adweek.com/news/technology/twitter-and-facebook-are-poised-challenge-youtube-148989
Tim Peterson<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/tt-twitter-youtube-01-2013.jpg"> <p>
U.S. advertisers will spend $4.14 billion on digital video this year, according to eMarketer estimates. Yet while Twitter and Facebook are among the most popular ways to find and watch videos, they&rsquo;ll only see a tiny sliver of those dollars since they don&rsquo;t house the content. But recent developments suggest that the two social giants might one day want to take on the 800-pound streaming gorilla that is <a href="http://youtube.com" target="_blank">YouTube</a>&mdash;and in doing so, grab a piece of the growing video ad pie.</p>
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&ldquo;YouTube has become the de facto social [content management system] for content across all platforms. Other channels are distribution channels,&rdquo; said Alex Jacobs, vp, director of social media at Digitas San Francisco. In a sample of more than 10,000 video brands posted to Facebook earlier this year, Socialbakers found that more than eight times as many were YouTube links as opposed to videos uploaded directly. Right now, Twitter and Facebook are mostly just pipes for YouTube videos&mdash;although that is changing.</p>
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Last year Twitter made it possible to watch videos within tweets. That led to partnerships with ESPN, Turner Broadcasting and The Weather Company to tweet game highlights or forecast clips featuring preroll ads from brands such as AT&amp;T, Coke and Ford. &ldquo;Content brands have the staying power [over distribution channels] because they have what consumers are seeking,&rdquo; said Jonathan Adams, iCrossing&rsquo;s svp of media, North America.</p>
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Now Twitter&rsquo;s seeking to further invest networks and brands in creating content for its platform. For example, sales teams for BBC America and Twitter have begun pitching major advertisers on bundled buys that would include in-tweet co-branded content, said Mark Gall, evp media sales, BBC America, <a href="http://bbc.com" target="_blank">BBC.com.</a></p>
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The first tweets will hit users&rsquo; stream &ldquo;within a couple months,&rdquo; he said. Rather than clips and prerolls, expect content created with advertisers specifically for Twitter. &ldquo;This is about bringing new content in innovative ways.&rdquo;</p>
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Meanwhile, per published reports, Facebook is planning to roll out pricey new video ad units this summer. That could create an uptick in the volume of videos marketers (especially film and TV studios) deliver to the platform. It&rsquo;s not hard to imagine Facebook aping Twitter&rsquo;s moves in order to make a frontal assault on YouTube. The site already houses tons of video content from the likes of Vevo, and Facebook almost certainly yearns for a chunk of the associated ad spending.</p>
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Facebook may need to move in that direction if it wants to move beyond being simply the place you go for content about people you know, as Jacobs characterizes it, and closer to Twitter&rsquo;s natural position for content recommendations. But the company had better get a move on, given YouTube&rsquo;s clout, Twitter&rsquo;s ambitions and the threat of other video contenders (Yahoo?).</p>
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&ldquo;Twitter has done a great job recently with striking very visible deals,&rdquo; Adams said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s exciting where they&rsquo;re going and how they&rsquo;re aligning with agencies and media brands.&rdquo;</p>
TechnologyAt&tCikeDCNF13EspnFacebookTim PetersonMagazine ContentsocialThe Video IssueThe Weather ChannelTwittertvideoYoutubeMon, 29 Apr 2013 03:44:16 +0000148989 at http://www.adweek.com